State backs paddler in Adirondack trespass case

Attorney general joins effort to maintain public access to water route

By BRIAN NEARING Staff writer

Published 12:50 am, Friday, February 25, 2011

ALBANY -- The state is joining a lawsuit with an Adirondack outdoors magazine to defend the right of canoeists and kayakers to travel on streams and other navigable waters that pass through private property in the Adirondack Park.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed papers in state Supreme Court in Hamilton County to force two property groups to remove no-trespassing signs, cameras and steel cables that block access through Shingle Shanty Brook near Lake Lila in the William C. Whitney Wilderness Area.

The eventual outcome of the case could help settle the question of whether any creek large enough to float a canoe or kayak is open to use by the public, as long as people enter and leave the water from public property.

Property owners, Friends of Thayer Lake LLC and the Brandreth Park Association, last year sued Phil Brown, editor of the Adirondack Explorer, a monthly outdoors magazine, for trespassing after Brown paddled what they claimed was a private part of the creek. Brown wrote about the trip for the magazine in 2009, which led others to make the journey.

"The public has a right to travel and enjoy this beautiful waterway without being stopped or harassed," said Schneiderman. About 2,000 people a year visit the area to paddle and camp.

More Information

DEC had concluded that the creek was open to navigation, making it accessible to the public, but failed to convince the property owners to allow paddlers to use it. Brown then made his trip, which prompted the lawsuit.

The Shingle Shanty has been used for both recreational and commercial purposes going back the 19th century, which guarantees the right of public access, Schneiderman said. DEC officials were able to paddle the length of the brook -- including the part alleged to be private -- in June 2010 during an inspection.

"For too long, paddlers have been hindered by unlawful navigation rules along Shingle Shanty Brook, compromising both the enjoyment and safety of one of the Adirondack's most appealing wilderness destinations," said Charles Morrison, project director for the Adirondack Committee of the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter. "We applaud Attorney General Schneiderman's commitment to defending the public right of navigation by removing these unlawful travel blockades."